Automatic disk changer

ABSTRACT

An automatic disk changer includes: a casing having a front wall in which an opening through which a number of disk are inserted into the casing, and a disk inserting slit are formed in such a manner that the slit is adjacent to the opening; a disk inserting swing tray which is swingably provided in the slit; and a locking mechanism which locks the swing tray in association with the mounting of a disk, which has been inserted into the casing with the aid of the swing tray, on a player body with the aid of a loading mechanism and a disk mounting mechanism.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

This invention relates to an automatic disk changer which picks up adesired one among a plurality of optical disks or magnet-optical diskssuch as compact disks (CDs) and mini-disks (MDs) which are arranged atpredetermined intervals (hereinafter referred to merely as "disks", whenapplicable) so that data are recorded thereon or reproduced therefrom orerased therefrom.

2. Description of the Related Art

An example of an automatic disk changer of this type has been disclosedin Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. Sho. 61-156563. Theautomatic disk changer comprises a casing in which a disk arrangingstand is provided on which a number of disks are arranged atpredetermined intervals, and a carriage which is reciprocated along thedisk arranging stand. The carriage has: a disk lifting mechanism whichis adapted to slightly lift a specified disk among the disks arranged onthe disk arranging stand; a loading mechanism which rolls the disk thuslifted to place it on the carriage; a disk mounting mechanism whichmounts the disk thus placed on a player body provided on the carriage;and an auxiliary tray mechanism section located adjacent to the diskarranging stand, including an auxiliary tray for inserting only onedisk, and a drive mechanism for driving the auxiliary tray back andforth.

In a data reproducing operation with the automatic disk changer, adesired one among a plurality of disks arranged on the disk arrangingstand is specified, and the carriage is moved to the disk thusspecified. Thereafter, the loading mechanism is operated to clamp thedisk and place it on the carriage. Then, the disk mounting mechanism isoperated to mount the disk thus placed on the player body provided onthe carriage. Under this condition, data are read from the disk with theoptical pickup of the player body, thus being reproduced. After thereproduction of data, the disk is returned to its original position onthe disk arranging stand with the above-described operations performedin the reverse order.

In the case where it is required to play a disk (to reproduce data froma disk) immediately which has been purchased, the drive mechanism in theauxiliary tray mechanism section is driven to draw the auxiliary trayout of the casing, and the disk is set in the auxiliary tray thus drawnout, and the auxiliary tray together with the disk is retracted into thecasing, so that the data are reproduced from the disk in theabove-described manner.

In the above-described automatic disk changer, the auxiliary traymechanism section for playing a particular disk besides a number ofdisks is intricate in structure, and accordingly high in manufacturingcost.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In view of the foregoing, an object of the invention is to provide anautomatic disk changer in which the mechanism section for playing aparticular disk besides a number of disks is simple in structure and islow in manufacturing cost.

In achieving the above object, a first aspect of the invention providesan automatic disk changer comprising: a loading mechanism which loads aspecified one among a number of disks which have been inserted into acasing through an opening which is formed in the casing so that disksare inserted in or taken out of the casing; a disk mounting mechanismwhich receives the specified disk from the loading mechanism and mountsthe specified disk on a player body; a disk inserting swing tray whichis swingably provided in a slit which is formed in a front wall of thecasing in such a manner that the slit is adjacent to the opening; and alocking mechanism which locks the swing tray in association with themounting of the disk, which has been inserted into the casing with theaid of the swing tray, on the player body with the aid of the loadingmechanism and the disk mounting mechanism.

A second aspect of the invention provides an automatic disk changercomprising: a disk arranging stand on which a number of disks arearranged at predetermined intervals which are inserted into a casingthrough an opening which is formed in the casing so that disks areinserted in or taken out of the casing through the opening; a carriagewhich is reciprocated along the disk arranging stand, the carriageincluding a loading mechanism which clamps a predetermined one among thenumber of disks on the disk arranging stand and delivers thepredetermined disk onto the carriage, and a disk mounting mechanismwhich mounts the disk, which has been thus delivered onto the carriage,on a player body; a disk inserting swing tray which is provided in aslit which is formed in a front wall of the casing in such a manner thatthe slit is adjacent to the opening, in such a manner that the swingtray is swingable about a lower end thereof forwardly and backwardly;and a locking mechanism which locks the swing tray in association withthe mounting of the disk, which has been inserted into the casing withthe aid of the swing tray, on the player body with the aid of theloading mechanism and the disk mounting mechanism.

A third aspect of the invention provides an automatic disk changercomprising: a loading mechanism which loads a specified one among anumber of disks which have been inserted into a casing through anopening which is formed in the casing so that disks are inserted in ortaken out of the casing through the opening; a disk mounting mechanismwhich receives the specified disk from the loading mechanism and mountsthe specified disk on a player body; a disk inserting slit which isformed in a front wall of the casing in such a manner that the slit isadjacent to the opening, and only one disk is inserted into the slit;and a shutter mechanism which closes the disk inserting slit inassociation with the mounting of the disk, which has been inserted intothe slit, on the player body with the aid of the loading mechanism andthe disk mounting mechanism.

A fourth aspect of the invention provides an automatic disk changercomprising: a disk arranging stand on which a number of disks arearranged at predetermined intervals which are inserted into a casingthrough an opening which is formed in the casing so that disks areinserted in or taken out of the casing through the opening; a carriagewhich is reciprocated along the disk arranging stand, the carriageincluding a loading mechanism which clamps a predetermined one among thenumber of disks on the disk arranging stand and delivers thepredetermined disk onto the carriage, and a disk mounting mechanismwhich mounts the disk which has been thus delivered onto the carriage,on a player body; a disk inserting slit which is formed in a front wallof the casing in such a manner that the slit is adjacent to the opening,and only one disk is inserted into the slit; and a shutter mechanismwhich closes the disk inserting slit in association with the mounting ofthe disk, which has been inserted into the slit, on the player body withthe aid of the loading mechanism and the disk mounting mechanism.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a vertical sectional view showing an automatic disk changer,which constitutes a first embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a horizontal sectional view of the automatic disk changershown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a horizontal sectional view showing a rear line section of adisk arranging stand in the automatic disk changer;

FIG. 4 is a vertical sectional view of the rear line section shown inFIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a side view showing a loading mechanism in the automatic diskchanger which is going to load a disk;

FIG. 6 is a plan view of the loading mechanism shown in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a rear disk locking frame in the loadingmechanism;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a front disk locking frame in theloading mechanism;

FIG. 9 is a horizontal sectional view of a disk locking frame in theloading mechanism;

FIG. 10 is a side view showing the loading mechanism which clamps adisk;

FIG. 11 is a plan view of the loading mechanism shown in FIG. 10;

FIG. 12 is a side view of the loading mechanism which is loading alarge-diameter disk;

FIG. 13 is a side view of the loading mechanism which is loading asmall-diameter disk;

FIG. 14 is a side view for a description of the behavior of the loadingmechanism in the case where the aimed disk is not present;

FIG. 15 is a plan view showing a disk mounting mechanism in theautomatic disk changer which is going to mount a disk;

FIG. 16 is a side view of the disk mounting mechanism shown in FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a plan view of the disk mounting mechanism which is mountinga disk;

FIGS. 18(a) through 18(c) are plan views outlining a cam in theautomatic disk changer;

FIG. 19 is a timing chart for a description of the operation of theautomatic disk changer;

FIG. 20 is a flow chart for a description of the operation of theautomatic disk changer;

FIG. 21 is a side view, with parts cut away, showing the automatic diskchanger;

FIG. 22 is an exploded perspective view of a swing tray and its relevantcomponents in the automatic disk changer;

FIGS. 23(a) and 23(b) are perspective views for a description of thefront half of a procedure of mounting a disk inside the casing with aidof the swing tray;

FIGS. 24(a) and 24(b) are perspective views for a description of therear half of the procedure of mounting a disk inside the casing with aidof the swing tray;

FIG. 25 is a perspective view of the automatic disk changer;

FIG. 26 is a horizontal sectional view showing an automatic diskchanger, which constitutes a second embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 27 is a side view, with part cut away, showing the automatic diskchanger of the second embodiment;

FIG. 28 is a front view of a disk inserting slit and its relevantcomponents in the automatic disk changer;

FIG. 29 is an exploded perspective view of a shutter mechanism in theautomatic disk changer; and

FIGS. 30(a) and 30(b) are perspective views for a description of theoperation of the shutter mechanism shown in FIG. 29.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Preferred embodiments of the invention will be described with referenceto the accompanying drawings.

First Embodiment

An automatic disk changer, which constitutes a first embodiment of theinvention, is as shown in FIG. 25. The automatic disk changer comprises:a casing 1 which has an opening 3 with a lid 2 in the upper portion ofthe front wall thereof, and a slit 73 formed in the same front wall insuch a manner that it is adjacent to the opening 3. In the slit 73, adisk inserting swing tray 74 is provided in such a manner that it isswingable about its lower end. That is, the casing is so designed that,with the lid 2 opened, a number of large-diameter disks D1 (for instance12 cm in diameter) and a number of small-diameter disks D2 (for instance8 cm in diameter) can be inserted into the casing 1 through the opening3, and one disk D1 or D2 can be inserted into the casing 1 with the aidof the swing tray 74. In the lower portion of the front wall of thecasing 1, a display section 4, and a variety of operating switches suchas a power switch 5a, disk specifying switches 5b, and a one-disk startswitch 5c are provided.

As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a disk arranging stand 6, and a carriage 7are provided inside the casing 1. A number of disks D1 and a number ofdisks D2 are arranged on the disk arranging stand 6 at predeterminedintervals, and the carriage 7 is reciprocated horizontally (in thedirections of the arrows a and b) along the disk arranging stand 6. Thecarriage 7 has a loading mechanism 8 which picks up a specified disk D1or D2 from the disk arranging stand 6 and places it on the carriage 7,and a disk mounting mechanism 10 which mounts the disk D1 or D2 thusplaced on a player body 9. On the carriage 7, a cam 11 for driving thetwo mechanisms 8 and 10 is rotatably provided. A cam stop switch 13 (cf.FIG. 18(b)) is provided between the carriage 7 and the cam 11 whichdetects when the cam 11 is turned through a predetermined angle in theforward or reverse direction to reach a stop position.

The disk arranging stand 6, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises: a pairof a front line section 6a and a rear line section 6b which are arrangedin parallel with each other with a predetermined space between them; anda number of guide plates 6c which are arranged parallel at intervalswhich are slightly larger than the thickness of the disks D1 or D2longitudinally of the two sections 6a and 6b, thus forming diskinserting grooves 15 between the adjacent guide plates 6c.

In the disk changer thus designed, the disks D1 and D2 can be insertedinto the predetermined disk inserting grooves 15 accurately.

The carriage 7, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, is arranged between the upperand lower base boards 17a and 17b. More specifically, the carriage 7 ismounted through wheels 18 on the lower base board 17b. Lateral vibrationpreventing rollers 19 and 19, which are protruded upwardly anddownwardly from the carriage 7, are rollingly in abutment with the sideedges of elongated holes 20 and 20 which are formed in the upper andlower base boards 17a and 17b, respectively. Pinions 22 and 22 fixedlymounted on both end portions of a supporting shaft 21 which penetratesthe carriage 7 vertically, are engaged with racks 23 and 23 of the upperand lower base boards 17a and 17b, respectively. A transmission belt 24is laid over the lower pinion 22 and another pinion 25 which is engagedwith a rack 26 of the lower base board 17b. A carriage motor 27 isprovided on the upper portion of the carriage 7. When the carriage motor27 is driven, the pinions 22, 22 and 25 can be turned in the forward andreverse directions through a gear mechanism 28, so that the carriage 7is moved in the directions of the arrows a and b.

The aforementioned cam 11, as shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, comprises upperand lower cam units 11a and 11b which are arranged parallel with apredetermined space r between them. The upper and lower cam units 11aand 11b are coupled to each other through a hollow shaft 11c, which ismounted on the supporting shaft 21 in such a manner that it is rotatablein the forward and reverse directions; i.e., in the directions of thearrows c and d. A cam motor 30 provided on the lower portion of thecarriage 7 is driven to turn the cam 11 in the forward and reversedirections through a gear mechanism 31, a worm 32, and a gear 33 formedin the outer periphery of the upper cam unit 11a.

As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an intermediate plate 35 is extendeddownwardly from the central portion of the lower surface of the rearline section 6b. The intermediate plate 35 has a number of slits 36formed at predetermined intervals in such a manner that they arearranged horizontally (in the directions of the arrows a and b), thusforming teeth 35a. On the other hand, a photo-detector 37 comprising alight emitting unit and a light receiving unit arranged on both sides ofthe intermediate plate 35, is arranged on the carriage 7. When thecarriage 7 is reciprocated horizontally (in the directions of the arrowsa and b), the output light beam of the light emitting unit isintercepted by the teeth 35a, thus producing pulse signals. The pulsesignals thus produced are counted, to detect the position of thecarriage 7.

The aforementioned loading mechanism 8, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,comprises: disk clamping arms 40 and 41 whose base end portions areswingably coupled through a supporting shaft 39 to the carriage 7 sothat the disk clamping arms 40 and 41 are swingably opened about 90°;disk locking frames 42 and 43 which are swingably coupled to the endportions of those arms 40 and 41, respectively; and a pair of couplingbars 46 and 47 which are supported in such a manner that they aremovable horizontally (in the directions of the arrows e and f), andwhich are coupled through gear mechanisms 44 and 45 to the base endportions of the arms 40 and 41, respectively. The coupling bars 46 and47 have cam pins 48 and 49 at the rear ends, respectively. The cam pins48 and 49 are engaged with loading cam grooves 50 and 51 which areformed in the upper and lower surfaces of the lower cam unit 11b,respectively. An energizing spring 52 is coupled to the coupling bar 46on the side of the front arm 40 to urge the coupling bar 46 forwardly,while an energizing spring 53 is coupled to the coupling bar 47 on theside of the rear arm 41 to urge the coupling bar 47 backwardly. Further,a disk presence/absence detector 54 made up of a limit switch or thelike is provided confronted with the rear end of the coupling bard 47.

The above-described disk locking frames 42 and 43 are substantiallyU-shaped in cross section as shown in FIGS. 7 through 9. In each of theframes 42 and 43, a disk inserting groove 56 is formed in the surfacewhich is confronted with the disks. In both side walls of the front disklocking frame 42 and in both side walls of the rear disk locking frame43, substantially U-shaped slits are cut to form pairs of tongue-shapeddisk locking pieces 58. The end portions of the disk locking pieces 58are inserted into the disk inserting groove 56, so that the end portionsof the disk locking pieces 58 elastically clamp the peripheral portionof a disk D1 or D2 from both sides which has been inserted into thegrooves 56. The length of the front disk locking frame 42 is smallerthan the distance between the front and rear line sections 6a and 6b ofthe disk arranging stand 6, and the width of the frame 42 is smallerthan the distance between the guide plates 6c and 6c of the diskarranging stand 6, so that the front disk locking frame 42 is allowed topass through a rectangular gap which is defined by the front and rearline sections 6a and 6b and by the guide plates 6c and 6c.

The disk changer is designed as described above. Hence, when a disk D1or D2 is clamped with the pair of disk clamping arms 40 and 41 of theloading mechanism 8, the periphery of the disk D1 or D2 is inserted intothe disk locking frames 42 and 43 of the arms 40 and 41, so that theperiphery of the disk D1 or D2 is elastically locked by the pairs ofdisk locking pieces 58 of the disk locking frames 42 and 43. Hence, thedisk D1 or D2 can be delivered to the disk mounting mechanism 10 whilebeing held vertical. The disk locking frame 42 is integral with its owndisk locking pieces 58, and the disk locking frame 43 is also integralwith its own disk locking pieces 58, contributing to a reduction in thenumber of components, and accordingly to a decrease in manufacturingcost.

As shown in FIGS. 5 and 7, a guide roller 59 is provided at the middleof the groove 56 of the rear disk locking frame 43.

Let us consider the case where, in the disk changer thus constructed,the large-diameter disk D1 and the small-diameter disk D2 are clampedwith the disk locking frames 42 and 43 of the pair of disk clamping arms40 and 41 one at a time. The two disks D1 and D2 are different indiameter from each other, as was described above. Hence, with thelarge-diameter disk D1 as a reference, the center O2 of thesmall-diameter disk D2 thus clamped is shifted from the center O1 of thelarge-diameter disk D1 thus clamped, and therefore it is impossible tomount the small-diameter disk D2 on the player body 9. However, itshould be noted that the guide roller 59 is provided at the middle ofthe disk inserting groove 56 of the disk locking frame 43. Hence, whenthe small-diameter disk D2 is clamped with the disk locking frame 42 and43 of the two arms 40 and 41, the small-diameter disk D2 is pushedupwardly by the guide roller 59, so that the center O2 of thesmall-diameter disk D2 is moved by the arms 40 and 41 to the center O1of the large-diameter disk D1 held by the two locking frames 42 and 43.Therefore, similarly as in the case of the large-diameter disk D1, thesmall-diameter disk D2 can be delivered to the disk mounting mechanism10; that is, it can be similarly mounted on the player body 9 (cf. FIG.13).

The aforementioned gear mechanisms 44 and 45, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6,comprise: racks 44a and 45a formed in the front end portions of theupper surfaces of the coupling bars 46 and 47; and sector-shaped pinions44b and 45b which are engaged with the racks 44a and 45a, respectively.The pinions 44b and 45b are rotatably mounted on the aforementionedsupporting shaft 39, and secured to the base end portions of theaforementioned arms 40 and 41, respectively.

With the disk changer thus constructed, in association with thepush-pull operation of the pair of coupling bars 46 and 47, the pair ofdisk clamping arms 40 and 41 are positively swung until the anglebetween the two arms 40 and 41 is set to a predetermined value.

With the disk changer, the large-diameter disk D1 is loaded as follows:Before the large-diameter disk D1 is held with the loading mechanism 8,as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the disk locking frames 42 and 43 are heldaway from the large-diameter disk D1, and therefore the disk lockingframes 42 and 43 will never collide with the large-diameter disk D1 whenthe carriage 7 is moved horizontally (in the direction of the arrow a orb).

Next, the carriage 7 is stopped in front of the specified large-diameterdisk D1, and the cam 11 is turned in the forward direction (in thedirection of the arrow c). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 18(b), 18(c)and 19, until the cam 11 reaches the position A (65°) from 0°, the campins 48 and 49 are not moved in the cam grooves 50 and 51 in thedirections of the arrows e and f; that is, the two arms 40 and 41 areheld spaced from the large-diameter disk D1 (cf. FIGS. 5 and 6).

Until the cam 11 reaches the position B (72°) from the position A, thecam pin 49 is retracted in the direction of the arrow f, so that therear arm 41 is swung forwardly to abut against the large-diameter diskD1; and until the cam 11 reaches the position C (115°) from the positionB, the cam pin 49 goes in a large-diameter disk branch groove 51a of thecam groove 51, thus not being moved in the directions of the arrows eand f. That is, the rear arm 41 is held abutted against thelarge-diameter disk D1 (cf. the solid lines in FIG. 10, and FIG. 11).

Until the cam 11 reaches the position C (115°) from the position A, thecam pin 48 is moved forwardly in the direction of the arrow e, so thatthe front arm 40 is swung backwardly to abut against the large-diameterdisk D1. Thus, the large-diameter disk D1 is clamped by the two arms 40and 41 (cf. the solid lines in FIG. 10, and FIG. 11).

Until the cam 11 reaches the position D (225°) from the position C, thecam pins 48 and 49 are moved forwardly in the direction of the arrow e,so that the two arms 40 and 41 clamping the large-diameter disk D1 areswung backwardly, thus inserting the large-diameter disk D1 into thedisk mounting mechanism 10 (cf. FIG. 12).

Until the cam 11 reaches the position E (340°) from the position D, thecam pin 48 is moved into the large-diameter disk branch groove 50a, thusbeing moved backwardly in the direction of the arrow f. As a result, thecam pin 49 is moved forwardly in the direction of the arrow e. Hence,the two arms 40 and 41 are moved away from the large-diameter disk D1,so that the disk D1 is handed to the disk mounting mechanism 10.

The small-diameter disk loading procedure is substantially equal to theabove-described large-diameter disk loading procedure; however, theformer is different from the latter in the following points: That is,the cam pin 49 is moved in the small-diameter disk branch groove 51b ofthe cam groove 51, so that the rear-arm 41 is more forwardly swung thanin the case of the large-diameter disk D1, thus being abutted againstthe small-diameter disk D2. Thus, the small-diameter disk D2 is clampedby the two arms 40 and 41 (cf. the phantom lines in FIG. 10). As the campin 48 is moved in the small-diameter disk branch groove 50b of the camgroove 50, so that the front arm 40 is more backwardly swung than in thecase of the large-diameter disk D1, and the small-diameter disk D2 isclamped by the two arms 40 and 41. In this case, the small-diameter diskD2 is pushed up by the guide roller 59, so that the center O2 of thesmall-diameter disk D2 is moved to the center O1 of the large-diameterdisk D1 clamped by the arms 40 and 41 (the disks D1 and D2 becomingcoaxial with each other). Hence, similarly as in the case of the largediameter disk D1, the small-diameter disk D2 is handed to the diskmounting mechanism 10, thus being mounted on the player body 9 (cf. FIG.13).

In the case where the specified disk D1 or D2 is not present, andaccordingly it is impossible for the arms 40 and 41 to clamp thespecified disk, the cam pin 49 is moved in the outer branch groove 51cof the cam groove 51. As a result, the rear arm 41 is more forwardlyswung than in the case of the small-diameter disk D2. As a result, theangle θ1 formed between the two arms 40 and 41 is smaller than that θ2formed when the small-diameter disk D2 is clamped (cf. FIG. 14), andaccordingly the coupling bar 47 is moved backwardly in the direction ofthe arrow f, thus striking against the disk presence/absence detector54, to detect the fact that the disk D1 or D2 is not present. Inresponse to the detection, the disk delivering operation can be stoppedimmediately; that is, loss time can be shortened as much.

The aforementioned disk mounting mechanism 10, as shown in FIGS. 15 and16, comprises a pair of swing frames 61 and 62 which are swingable aboutthe supporting shaft 21. The player body 9 including a turn table 9a andan optical pickup is provided on one of the swing frames 61 and 62 (theswing frame 61 in the case of the embodiment), and a disk retainingmember 63 is provided on the other swing frame 62 which is detachablyengageable with the turn table 9a. An operating board 64 is providedbelow the swing frames 61 and 62 in such a manner that it is movablehorizontally (in the directions of the arrows e or f), and an elongatedhole 65 is formed in the middle of the operating board 64. Thesupporting shaft 21 is extended through the elongated hole 65 thusformed. The operating board 64 is fork-shaped, and has two-step bentholes 66 and 66 in its two prongs. Those bent holes 66 and 66 areengaged with engaging pins 67 and 67 protruded from the swing frames 61and 62, respectively. A cam pin 68 is protruded from the base endportion of the fork-shaped operating board 64, and is fitted in a camgroove 69 formed in the upper surface of the upper cam unit 11a. Thedistance α between the front end portions of the bent holes 66 and 66 issmaller than-the distance β between the rear end portions of the holes66 and 66 (α<β).

Before the operation of the disk mounting mechanism 10, the swing frames61 and 62 are held closed (cf. FIG. 2). Under this condition, the cam 11is turned forwardly (in the direction of the arrow c). When, as shown inFIG. 18(a) and FIG. 19, the cam 11 reaches the position F (45°) from theposition (0°), the cam pin 68 is moved forwardly, in the direction ofthe arrow e, with the aid of the cam groove 69, so that the rear endportions of the bent holes 66 and 66 are engaged with the engaging pins67 and 67, and the swing frames 61 and 62 are opened swinging about thesupporting shaft 21. This state is maintained until the cam 11 reachesthe position H (260°) from the position G (95°). During this period, asshown in FIG. 15, the disk D1 or D2 is inserted between the swing frames61 and 62 by means of the loading mechanism 8. Next, by the time instantthat the cam 11 reaches the position I (295°), the cam pin 68 is movedbackwardly, in the direction of the arrow f, with the aid of the camgroove 69, so that the front end portions of the bent holes 66 and 66are engaged with the engaging pins 67 and 67, and the swing frames 61and 62 are closed swinging about the supporting shaft 21. As a result,as shown in FIG. 17, the disk D1 or D2 is clamped by the turn table 9aand the disk retaining member 63, and mounted on the player body 9.

In the embodiment, the aforementioned cam stop switch 13 is a tumblerswitch as shown-in FIG. 18(b). The switch 13 has a detecting lever 13awhich is engaged with a protrusion 71a left in a cam groove 71 which isformed in the side surface of the lower cam unit 11b in such a mannerthat it covers 340°.

Let us consider the case where the cam 11 is turned in the forwarddirection, in the direction of the arrow c. As shown in FIG. 18(b) andFIG. 19, immediately when the cam 11 leaves the position 0°, thedetecting lever 13a is placed in a neutral state. When the cam 11reaches the position J (340°), the detecting lever 13a strikes againstthe protrusion 71a, so that the cam stop switch 13 is activated tooutput a detection signal. In response to the detection signal, therotation of the cam 11 is stopped. On the other hand, let us considerthe case where the cam 11 is turned from the position J in the reversedirection (in the direction of the arrow d). When the cam reaches thezero position (0°), the detecting lever 13a strikes against theprotrusion 71a, so that the cam stop switch 13 is activated to output adetection signal. In response to the detection signal, the rotation ofthe cam 11 is stopped.

As was described above, the loading mechanism 8, the disk mountingmechanism 10, and the cam stop switch 13 can be operated with only onecam 11. Hence, the resultant disk changer is simple in structure, andlow in manufacturing cost.

The above-described loading mechanism 8 and disk mounting mechanism 10are controlled by a control unit (not shown) comprising a microcomputer.The functions of the control unit will be described with reference toFIG. 20.

When a power switch 5a is depressed, the player body 9 is operated, andit is determined whether or not the optical pickup of the player body 9is at a TOC data reading position for a disk D1 or D2 (Step S1). If theoptical pickup is shifted from the TOC data reading position, a feedmotor in the player body 9 is driven to move the optical pickup to theTOC data reading position (Step S2). Next, it is determined whether ornot the cam 11 is at the zero position (0°) (Step S3). If the cam 11 isshifted therefrom, the cam motor 30 is driven so that the cam 11 is atthe zero position (Step S4). Thereafter, it is determined whether or notthe carriage 7 is at the start position (Step S5). If not, the carriagemotor 27 is driven so that the carriage 7 is at the start position (StepS6). Next, a desired disk D1 or D2 is selected among a number of disksD1 and D2 on the disk arranging stand 6. In response to the selection ofthe disk, the disk specifying switch 5b is operated to specify the disknumber (Step S7); that is, to output a specifying signal. In response tothe specifying signal, the control unit drives the carriage motor 27 sothat the carriage 7 is moved to the disk D1 or D2 thus specified (StepS8). As a result, as shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, the disk clamping arms 40and 41 of the loading mechanism 8 are confronted through the specifieddisk D1 or D2 with each other.

Under this condition, the cam 11 is turned in the forward direction (inthe direction of the arrow c) (Step S9), so that the disk mountingmechanism 10, the loading mechanism 8, and the cam stop switch 13 areoperated one after another according to a timing chart shown in FIG. 19.This will be described in more detail. After the carriage 7 is fixed(Step S10), the disk D1 or D2 is loaded (Step S11). More specifically,the swing frames 61 and 62 are opened with the aid of the cam pin 68 andthe cam groove 69 in the disk mounting mechanism 10, and the disk D1 orD2 clamped by the arms 40 and 41 is inserted between the swing arms 61and 62 (cf. FIGS. 12, 13 and 15).

Next, during loading, it is determined whether or not the specified diskis present (Step S12). That is, in the case where the specified disk isnot present, as shown in FIG. 14 the rear arm 41 is swung forwardlythrough a large angle. In response to this swing operation, the couplingbar 47 is moved backwardly in the direction of the arrow f to strikeagainst the disk presence/absence detector 54 to activate the detector54, so that the detector 54 outputs a detection signal. In response tothe detection signal thus outputted, the above-described operations arecanceled, so that the carriage 7 is returned to the original position.

When, as was described above, the disk D1 or D2 is set between the swingframes 61 and 62 of the disk mounting mechanism 10 (cf. FIG. 15), theswing frames 61 and 62 are closed, so that the disk D1 or D2 is clampedbetween the disk retaining member 63 and the turn table 9a, whereby thedisk is mounted on the player body 9 (Step S13).

Next, the detecting lever 13a of the cam stop switch 13 is engaged withthe protrusion 71a of the cam groove 71, to activate the cam stop switch13. In response to the detection signal from the cam stop switch 13, therotation of the cam 11 is stopped (Step S14).

Thereafter, the player body 9 is operated to reproduce data from thedisk D1 or D2. After the reproduction, with the above-describedoperations performed in the reverse order, the disk D1 or D2 is returnedto its original position on the disk arranging stand 6, and the carriage7 is returned to the standby position.

As shown in FIGS. 2, 21 and 22, the aforementioned disk inserting swingtray 74 is provided confronted with the carriage 7 stopped at thestandby position, and comprises: a locking mechanism which locks theswing tray 74; and a tray detector 76 and a disk detector 77 whichdetect the swing tray 74 and a disk D1 or D2, respectively, when thedisk reaches a predetermined position in the casing 1.

The swing tray 74 is made up of a pair of right and left side plates 74aand 74b which are slightly larger in thickness than the disk D1 or D2and are substantially L-shaped, a front plate 74c which is connectedbetween the front edges of the side plates 74a and 74b, and a frontreceiving portion 74d and a rear receiving portion 74e which isconnected between the lower portions of the side plates 74a and 74b witha predetermined space between them. Hence, when a disk D1 or D2 isinserted between the side board 74a and 74b, the lower edge of the diskD1 or D2 is supported by the front receiving portion 74d and the rearreceiving portion 74e.

The disk locking frame 42 is passed through a rectangular-box-shapedspace which is defined by the right and left side plates 74a and 74b andthe front and rear receiving portions 74d and 74e, to push up the diskD1 or D2 in the swing tray 74.

Supporting shafts 74f and 74g extended outwardly from the lower ends ofthe front portions of the right and left side plates 74a and 74b arefitted in shaft-receiving recesses 80 and 80 which are formed in theright and left stationary side plates 78 and 79 in the casing 1,respectively, so that the swing tray 74 can be swung about thesupporting shafts 74f and 74g forwardly and backwardly.

A substantially D-shaped locking cam 82 is formed on the supportingshaft 74g, and an elastic rod 83 locked to the side plate 79 is abuttedagainst the aforementioned locking cam 82. In the case where the swingtray 74 is held inside the casing 1 as indicated by the solid lines inFIG. 21, the arcuate surface 82a of the locking cam 82, being abuttedagainst the elastic rod 83, prevents the swing tray 74 fromunintentionally swinging forwardly. When, under this condition, theswing tray 74 is pulled forwardly with the finger set in a recess 84formed in the upper end portion of the swing tray 74, the tray 74 isswung about the supporting shafts 74f and 74g, thus being protrudedforwardly as indicated by the phantom lines in FIG. 21. As a result, theflat surface 82b of the locking cam 82 is abutted against the elasticrod 83, so that the swing tray 74 is maintained protruded.

The aforementioned locking mechanism 75, as shown in FIGS. 21 and 22,comprises: a lock pin 86 which is protruded from the middle of the lowerportion of the side plate 74a; a lock body 87 which is engageable withand disengageable from the lock pin 86; and a spring 88 which urges thelock body 87 to move away from the lock pin 86.

The lock body 87 comprises: a slider 87a (rectangular in a plan view)which is confronted with the coupling bar 46 of the loading mechanism 8and the operating bar 89 (cf. FIG. 2) extended forwardly from theoperating board 64 of the disk mounting mechanism 10; and a hook 87bwhich is protruded from the upper surface of the slider 87a. The slider87a has an elongated through-hole 90 at the center. The through-hole 90is engaged with a protrusion 91a which is extended from the stationarybottom plate 91 of the casing 1. The protrusion 91a is threadablyengaged with retaining bolts 92, so that the lock body is movable backand forth (in the directions of the arrows e and f) over a certaindistance.

The aforementioned tray detector 76 is made up of a limit switch or thelike, and is set on a supporting plate 93 inserted between the rearportions of stationary side plates 78 and 79, and a retaining member 94is mounted on the side plate 74a of the swing tray 74 in such a mannerthat it is confronted with the tray detector 76. On the other hand, thedisk detector 77 is made up of a photo-detector comprising a lightemitting unit and a light receiving unit, and it is mounted on asupporting plate 95 which is inserted between the front portions of theside plates 78 and 79. In order to prevent the side plates 74a and 74bof the swing tray 74 from colliding with the disk detector 77, the sideplates 74a and 74b have cuts (or recesses) 96.

In the case where it is required to play a particular disk D1 or D2, forinstance, a newly purchased disk immediately, the disk changer isoperated as follows: As indicated by the phantom lines in FIG. 21 and inFIG. 23(a), the swing tray 74 is pulled out of the casing 1, and thedisk is set in the swing tray 74, and then the tray 74 is pushedbackwardly.

As a result, as shown in the solid lines in FIG. 21 and in FIG. 23(b),the swing tray 74 is swung about the supporting shafts 74f and 74gbackwardly, whereby the disk D1 or D2 is inserted into the casing 1. Inthis case, the retaining member 94 abuts against the tray detector 76,so that it is detected that the swing tray 74 has been set in the casing1 in the predetermined manner. At the same time, the light beam appliedfrom the light emitting unit to the light receiving unit of the diskdetector 77 is intercepted by the disk D1 or D2 in the swing tray 74, sothat it is detected that the disk D1 or D2 is set at the predeterminedposition in the casing 1 with the aid of the swing tray 74.

Under this condition, the one-disk start switch 5c is depressed. As aresult, the loading mechanism 8 and the disk mounting mechanism 10 areoperated in the above-described manner, and the disk D1 or D2 in theswing tray 74 is mounted on the play body 9. In this case, the swingframes 61 and 62 of the disk mounting mechanism 10 which are kept closedas shown in FIG. 2, is opened (as shown in FIG. 15), so that theoperating bar 89 is moved forwardly, in the direction of the arrow e,with the aid of the operating board 64. As a result, the lock body 87 ispushed outwardly by the end of the operating bar 89, so that the hook87b of the lock body 87 is engaged with the lock pin 86 as shown in FIG.24(a). Thereafter, the disk D1 or D2 is clamped between the front andrear arms 40 and 41 of the loading mechanism 8, and is delivered to thedisk mounting mechanism 10 (cf. FIGS. 12 and 13), whereby the rearcoupling bar 46 is moved forwardly, in the direction of the arrow e,until the front end of the rear coupling bar 46 abuts against the rearend face of the lock body 87.

Thereafter, when the swing frame 61 and 62 of the disk mountingmechanism 10, which are kept opened (as shown in FIG. 15), is closed asshown in FIG. 17, the operating bar 89 is moved backwardly (in thedirection of the arrow f) whereby the front end of the operating bar 89is spaced away from the lock body 87 as shown in FIG. 24(b). However,since the front end of the coupling bar 46 is abutted against the rearend face of the lock body 87 as was described above, the lock body 87 isnot retracted by the spring 88; that is, the hook 87b of the lock body87 is maintained engaged with the lock pin 86.

Hence, when the disk D1 or D2 inserted with the aid of the swing tray 74is played, the swing tray 74 is locked by the locking mechanism 75, andtherefore the swing tray 74 is prevented from being forcibly pulled outof the casing 1.

After the disk D1 or D2 has been played, it is returned to the swingtray 74 with the above-described operations performed in the reverseorder, so that the rear coupling bar 46 is moved backwardly (in thedirection of the arrow f). As a result, the lock body 87 is movedbackwardly by the spring 88, so that the hook 87b is spaced from theblock pin 86. Thus, the swing tray 74 is so restored that it isswingable again (cf. FIG. 23(b)).

Thereafter, the swing tray 74 is pulled forwardly with the finger set inthe recess 84 of the swing tray 74; that is, the swing tray 74 is pulledout of the casing, whereby the disk D1 or D2 can be taken out of theswing tray 74.

The locking mechanism 75 adapted to lock the swing tray 74 is simple instructure and small in the number of components. Hence, it can bemanufactured at low cost.

As is apparent from the above description, the first embodiment of theinvention has the following effects or merits:

In the automatic disk changer of the first embodiment, among a number ofdisks inserted into the casing through the opening, a desired one isspecified and played, and merely by inserting a disk which has beennewly purchased into the casing with the aid of the swing tray, the newdisk is played. Hence, the structure for playing one particular diskbesides a number of disks is simple, and accordingly low inmanufacturing cost.

On the other hand, when the disk is being played which has been insertedinto the casing with the aid of swing tray, in association with thisoperation the swing tray is locked by the locking mechanism. Hence, theautomatic disk changer is free from the difficulty that the swing trayis unintentionally swung, and another disk is set in the swing tray.

Second Embodiment

Another automatic disk changer, which constitutes a second embodiment ofthe invention, will be described. However, it should be noted that thesecond embodiment is fundamentally equal to the first embodiment, andtherefore only parts of the second embodiment which are different fromthose of the first embodiment will be described.

As shown in FIGS. 26 through 29, a disk inserting slit 73 is formed insuch a manner that it confronts with the carriage 7 which is stopped atthe standby position. A front supporting stand 175a and a rearsupporting stand 175b which support the bottom of a disk D1 or D2 isprovided in such a manner that they confronts with the slit 73. A frontdisk locking frame 42 is passed through the space between the twosupporting stands 175a and 175b. In addition, a photo-detector 176 isprovided which comprises a light emitting unit and a light receivingunit to detect a disk D1 or D2 set on the supporting stands 175a and175b. Furthermore, a shutter mechanism 177 for closing the slit 73 isprovided. The shutter mechanism 177 comprises a shutter body 178, aspring 179 which urges the shutter body 178 to move away from the slit73, and a slider 180 provided between the shutter body 178 and thecoupling bar 46 of the front arm 40.

The shutter body 178 comprises: a vertical bar 178a which is extendedvertically along the lower portion of the front wall of the casing 1; acurved bar 178b which is extended from the upper end of the vertical bar178a upwardly along the inner surface of a recess 174 of the casing 1; ahorizontal bar 178c which is extended horizontally from the upper end ofthe curved bar 178b towards the slit 73; and a horizontal piece 178dwhich is extended horizontally from the lower end of the vertical bar178a towards the slider 180. A supporting shaft 178e, which is extendedfrom the upper end of the vertical bar 178a, is swingably inserted in aboss 181 formed in the front wall of the casing 1, so that the shutterbody 178 is swung about the supporting shaft 178e. The rear edge portionof the horizontal piece 178d has a sloped surface 182.

The spring 179 is connected between the horizontal bar 178c of theshutter body 178 and a locking piece 183 formed on the side wall of thecasing 1, to urge the horizontal bar 178c to move away from the slit 73.

The slider 180 is a frame U-shaped in cross section, which is movablymounted on a rectangular-prism-shaped stationary guide 184 which isprotruded from the disk arranging stand 6. The slider 180 has a pair offront and rear elongated holes 185 in the bottom, and supporting members186 such as bolts are extended from the bottom of the guide 184 throughthe elongated holes 185, whereby the slider 180 is supported by thestationary guide 184 in such a manner that it is movable within apredetermined distance in the directions of the arrows e and f. Theslider 180 has a trapezoidal cam 187 on its one side surface, in such amanner that the front sloped surface 187a of the cam 187 is abuttedagainst the sloped surface 182 of the aforementioned horizontal piece178d. Furthermore, the slider 180 has a rear end plate 188 at the rearend, in such a manner that one end portion of the rear end plate 188 isconfronted with the coupling bar 46 of the front arm 40. The other endportion of the rear end plate 188 is connected to a spring 189 to urgethe slider 180 backwardly.

Now, it is assumed that, in the disk changer thus constructed, no diskD1 or D2 is inserted in the disk inserting slit 73. In this case, asshown in FIG. 30(a), the slider 180 has been moved backwardly (in thedirection of the arrow f), and therefore the horizontal bar 187c of theshutter body 178 is spaced away from the slit 73 by the spring 179 (cf.FIG. 28), so that a particular disk D1 or D2, for instance, a newlypurchased disk can be inserted into the slit 73 (cf. FIG. 27).

When a disk D1 or D2 is inserted into the slit 73, the insertion isdetected by the photo-detector 176. Hence, upon depression of theone-disk start switch 5c, the loading mechanism 8 and the disk mountingmechanism 10 are operated in the above-described manners, so that thedisk D1 or D2 in the slit 73 is mounted on the player body 9. In thiscase, as shown in FIG. 30(b), the loading mechanism 8 operates to movethe coupling bar 46 of the front arm 40 forwardly (in the direction ofthe arrow e), so that the slider 180 is moved forwardly (in thedirection of the arrow e) by the front end of the coupling bar 46against the elastic force of the spring 189. As a result, the slopedsurface 182 of the shutter body 178 is pushed by the sloped surface 187aof the trapezoidal cam 187, so that the shutter body 178 is turned aboutthe supporting shaft 178e against the elastic force of the spring 179;that is, the slit 73 is closed by the horizontal bar 178c of the shutterbody 178 (cf. the phantom lines in FIG. 28). Hence, the disk changer isfree from the difficulty that, while the disk D1 or D2 inserted in theslit 73 is being played, another disk D1 or D2 is inserted into the slit73.

When the reproduction of data from the disk D1 or D2 inserted into theslit 73 has been accomplished, the disk D1 or D2 is returned to itsoriginal position with the above-described operations performed in thereversed order. Therefore, the disk D1 or D2 can be pulled out of theslit 73 with the finger set in the recess 174. As is apparent from theabove description, merely by adding some structure to the structureadapted to play a number of disks D1 and D2 inserted through the opening3, a particular disk D1 or D2 besides those disks can be played. Thestructure thus added is simple and low in manufacturing cost.

The second embodiment of the invention has the following effects ormerits:

With the automatic disk changer of the second embodiment, among a numberof disks inserted into the casing through the disk loading and unloadingopening, a desired one is specified and played, and in addition, forinstance a newly purchased disk can be played merely by inserting itinto the disk inserting slit. Hence, the structure for playing aparticular disk besides a number of disks is simple and low inmanufacturing cost.

Furthermore, when the disk inserted into the disk inserting slit isbeing played, the disk inserting slit is kept closed. Hence, theautomatic disk changer is free from the difficulty that, when the diskinserted into the disk inserting slit is being played, another disk isinserted into the slit.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic disk change comprising:a loadingmechanism arranged to load a specified one among a number of disks whichhave been inserted into a casing through an opening which is formed inthe casing, said loading mechanism being arranged to take disks out ofthe casing for mounting on a player body and to insert disks into thecasing after dismounting from the player body; a disk mounting mechanismarranged to receive the specified disk from said loading mechanism afterthe loading mechanism has taken the disk out of the casing and to mountthe specified disk on the player body; a swing tray which is swingablyprovided in a slit formed in a front wall of the casing, said slit beingadjacent to the opening and said swing tray being arranged to insert adisk into the casing such that the disk is taken out of the casing bysaid loading mechanism for mounting on the player body; and a lockingmechanism arranged to lock said swing tray in response to taking out, bythe loading mechanism, of the swing tray-inserted disk from the casing,and to mounting of said swing tray-inserted disk on the player body bysaid disk mounting mechanism.
 2. The automatic disk changer as claimedin claim 1, wherein said locking mechanism comprises: a lock pin whichis protruded from said swing tray; a lock body which is engageable withand disengageable from said lock pin; and a spring which urges said lockbody to move away from said lock pin, said lock body being engaged withsaid lock pin against said spring in association with the mounting ofthe disk, which has been inserted into the casing with the aid of saidswing tray, on the player body with the aid of said loading mechanismand said disk mounting mechanism.
 3. The automatic disk changer asclaimed in claim 1, further comprising a tray detector which detectssaid swing tray when the disk inserted into the casing with the aid ofsaid swing tray reaches a predetermined position in the casing.
 4. Theautomatic disk changer as claimed in claim 1, comprising a disk detectorwhich detects the disk when the disk inserted into the casing with theaid of said swing tray reaches a predetermined position in the casing.5. An automatic disk changer comprising:a disk arranging stand on whicha number of disks are arranged at predetermined intervals which areinserted into a casing through an opening which is formed in the casingso that said disks are inserted in or taken out of the casing throughthe opening; a carriage which is reciprocated along said disk arrangingstand, said carriage including a loading mechanism which clamps apredetermined one among the number of disks on said disk arranging standand delivers the predetermined disk onto said carriage, and a diskmounting mechanism which mounts the disk, which has been thus deliveredonto said carriage, on a player body; a disk inserting swing tray whichis provided in a slit which is formed in a front wall of the casing insuch a manner that the slit is adjacent to the opening, in such a mannerthat said swing tray is swingable about a lower end thereof forwardlyand backwardly; and a locking mechanism which locks said swing tray inassociation with the mounting of the disk, which has been inserted intothe casing with the aid of said swing tray, on the player body with theaid of said loading mechanism and said disk mounting mechanism.
 6. Theautomatic disk changer as claimed in claim 5, wherein said lockingmechanism comprises: a lock pin which is protruded from said swing tray;a lock body which is engageable with and disengageable from said lockpin; and a spring which urges said lock body to move away from said lockpin, said lock body being engaged with said lock pin against said springin association with the mounting of the disk, which has been insertedinto the casing with the aid of said swing tray, on the player body withthe aid of said loading mechanism and said disk mounting mechanism. 7.The automatic disk changer as claimed in claim 5, further comprising atray detector which detects said swing tray when the disk inserted intothe casing with the aid of said swing tray reaches a predeterminedposition in the casing.
 8. The automatic disk changer as claimed inclaim 5, comprising a disk detector which detects the disk when the diskinserted into the casing with the aid of said swing tray reaches apredetermined position in the casing.